Meteor Section

What's happening in the night sky in 2000 ?

The English version. The Norwegian version.

The two greatest enemies of meteor observers are clouds and moonlight. In 2000 the lunar phases are unfavourable during almost all of the major meteor showers - the exception is the Quadrantids which has already passed maximum (Jan 4). Below is a presentation of some of this years events :

By L.T.Heen


The Lyrids April 22. A medium activity shower active for a few days around maximum. Many meteors in some years, but this year the waning gibbous moon is a great nuisance.
The Perseids August 12. A strong shower with many bright meteors, nice colours and trains. Active from about July 20. to August 20. Many meteors from ca. August 10-14. , a broad maximum on the nights of August 11-12 and 12-13, this year the moon will interfere, but still many meteors should be seen.
The Orionids October 22. Probably the best of the not so major showers. Active for 3-4 weeks around maximum. Highest activity from October 17. to October 24. Has shown exciting and unexpected variations in activity from one day to the next on several occations. This shower, too, will be affected by the moon this year.
The Leonids November 18. The King of the meteor showers. Usually weak to medium activity, but displays thousands of meteors per hour once every 33 years. We are in the current storm epoch. 1999 saw a maximum activity of about 4000 meteors per hour. Somewhat unpredicable, this menas that you should give it your best shot depsite bad moon phase.
The Geminids December 13. A strong shower with some bright meteors, some with colour and trains. Many meteors from about December 10. to 14. The activity declines rapidly after maximum. A nice shower, but dress well! Very bad moon phase this year, but some should be seen.
The Quadrantids January 3. A strong shower with a short maximum. The activity increases tenfold in about a day, and falls off at least as fast! Some bright, but most weak meteors. An impressive shower if you have good observing conditions.
There are many more meteor showers. The above are amongst the most popular ones.


Read more about:

Radiant-catalogue (International Meteor Organization)
What's visible in 2000 ? (International Meteor Organization)
Description of meteor showers (Gary Kronk)


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General:

    [Meteors] [Meteorites] [Results] [Meteor Section] [NAS] [Web]


by Lars Trygve Heen.